Image of Bernard Kerik from Wikimedia.

Bernard Kerik knows that committing tax fraud is a no-no. He made that clear in 2004, when he withdrew his name from consideration for Secretary of Homeland Security. At that time, Bernard Kerik admitted that he had committed tax fraud.

Bernard Kerik had employed an illegal immigrant to work for him as a nanny. Although he had failed to pay taxes on his employee, Kerik said he didn’t know the worker was undocumented. This was only the beginning of his legal troubles. He apparently didn’t know, or didn’t care, that confidential information must remain confidential when one is being investigated for conspiracy, fraud and possible mob connections. But let’s back up.

More charges flood in

Shortly after Bernard Kerik withdrew his name from the running for Secretary of Homeland Security, investigations began regarding ethics violations, unclassified misdemeanors. He pleaded guilty to those and paid a $221,000 fine.The court said “pay the money now, and you’ll be free,” so he did.

But it wasn’t over. Near the end of 2007, Bernard Kerik was indicted by a grand jury. His charges include conspiracy, tax fraud and making false statements. That brings us to the present, where Bernard Kerik was out on bail and waiting for his trial, which begins Monday.

Breaking the rules

Just a quick primer on the justice system: When someone gets arrested on charges, they get thrown in jail and have the opportunity to post bail. If the accused pays the bail money, they can be let out of jail until they get their sentence, which happens after the trial. However, people who are out on bail generally must agree to certain conditions in order to remain out of jail.

In major cases such as Bernard Kerik’s, it’s imperative that the accused does not share sensitive information about the case with the public. So although Bernard Kerik posted his $500,000 bail, he violated the conditions of his release when he posted confidential documents on his defense web site, according to USA Today. The judge ruled that this action could potentially sway jurors and that Bernard Kerik could not be trusted to honor the terms of his release, so he was hauled back to the slammer.

Who cares about Bernard Kerik?

So why is everyone so interested in this Bernard Kerik fellow? He was police commissioner in New York City during the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center. He was seen often on television with Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and Giuliani recommended him for Security of Homeland Security.

Bernard Kerik also served as Interim Minister of Interior of Iraq for a few months in 2003, just after the start of the Iraq War.

The New York attorney general has added another name to the list of people charged in connection with Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. Money manager J. Ezra Merkin was charged today. Merkin says he was stunned to learn of Madoff’s scheme, and Merkin’s attorney has called the state’s lawsuit “hasty and ill-conceived.”

Merkin’s role

Merkin is accused of playing the role of a “feeder” in Madoff’s scheme, directing cash advances and funds meant for other causes into Madoff’s accounts. New York’s lawsuit says Merkin funneled more than $2.4 billion to Madoff.

“Merkin duped individual investors, non-profits, and charities into believing he was responsibly managing their investments, when in actuality he was dumping them into history’s largest Ponzi scheme,” New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said.

Merkin’s profits

Cuomo says Merkin pulled in $470 million in payments for money management and incentive fees from Madoff. The State of New York isn’t the first entity to file a lawsuit against Merkin for his alleged role in the scheme. New York University and the publisher of the New York Daily News, Mort Zuckerman, have already filed suits against Merkin.

Merkin’s history

Merkin is a well-known philanthropist in New York. He used to be chairman of GMAC Financial Services, the financing arm of General Motors Corp.  Merkin operated two funds, Gabriel Capital and Ariel Fund, that acted as “feeder” funds for Madoff.

Merkin’s knowledge

Merkin and his attorney, Andrew Levander, maintain that Merkin knew nothing about Madoff’s scheme. Levander says he will vigorously defend his client, and that Merkin had performed “extensive due diligence” on Madoff.

Cuomo’s lawsuit says Merkin ignored numerous red flags, and Merkin was aware that investment professionals were suspicious regarding Madoff’s activities.

Madoff’s fate

Bernie Madoff was convicted in March of running a Ponzi scheme that swindled billions from his customers. Madoff, 70, will be sentenced June 16. He will likely spend the rest of his life in jail. He could receive a sentence of up to 150 years.

Governor David Paterson and top legislative leaders Sunday finished negotiations on the proposed budget for the state of New York. The governor, along with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Malcom Smith rolled out the $131.8 billion package.

Yes new taxes

Critics, of course, had plenty to say about the governor’s proposals. The package raises taxes and ups spending. Paterson says taxes must be raised to rectify a $16 billion budget gap. The budget also eliminates a property tax rebate. In total, the plan brings in $7 million in new taxes and fees.

But before you New Yorkers run out and get payday loans, CBS reports that taxes will only be raised for the wealthiest New Yorkers.

A little help from the feds

New York state will receive $7.2 billion from the federal stimulus package. The biggest spending boosts are for education, although there are some pretty big cuts to education as well.

Less for the little guys

The budget includes cutting funding for community colleges in New York by $49 million. However, it adds $125 million in funding for the State University of New York. That will put the total funding for that university at $2.5 billion. It also give $86 million more to the City University of New York, for a new total of $1.4 billion.

It also adds $50 million to the tuition assistance program.

More on schools

As for primary education, public school funding will increase by about $1.1 billion. The  new version of the budget does not contain the $700 million cut in school spending Paterson proposed in December. The new spending will make New York one of the highest spenders in the nation on education.

Bottling up taxpayer money

5 cents

The budget adds to the state’s bottle bill. It requires a 5 cent deposit on water bottles in addition to the 5 cent deposit already required for carbonated drink containers. It ups the cigarette tax on cigarillos so it is equal to the regular cigarette tax.

Attica

State budgets have fallen on hard times, which means states have less money for everything, including prisons. At Attica prison in New York, that has meant many convicts are being released after serving only minimum sentences.

But the efforts to save money have turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  People who run programs that prepare prisoners for society after incarceration have realized that programs like that and rehabilitation efforts save a lot of money.

Reducing recidivism

Keeping a person in jail for a year costs $40,000. It used to be that most of the prisoners were not there for their first time. Before states started running programs that helped treat people with drug addictions and helped prisoners get ready to be back in society, inmates were basically given a bus pass and tossed out on the streets. There was more of a chance that they would return than that they’d stay out. Surviving in society takes quite a bit of money, and prisoners are more likely to re-offend than they are to jobs or personal loans.

Changing laws

The New York legislature is working on changing some laws that have kept drug users in prison for years. Other states, including Michigan, New Jersey and North Carolina, are either releasing some prisoners who have served their minimum time or putting drug offenders in treatment programs instead of prison.

Without re-entry and rehabilitation programs, two-thirds of inmates return to prison. Half of those that return do so because of technical violations, like breaking parole. The system usually only has enough money to detect violations, not to help people who have drug relapses.

A good investment

Now states are discovering that investing money in helping prepare prisoners to return to society saves a lot more in the long run. New York has invested in opening a number of specialized re-entry units. The units are closer to residential neighborhoods, whereas Attica is an eight-hour drive from New York City, where most of the inmates live.

In the new re-entry units, inmates spend the last three to four months of their sentences meeting with state and community social-service agencies to help line up housing, jobs and drug-rehab programs. State officials are hoping that their efforts will allow them to eventually shut down one of their prisons. So far the prison population in New York has been decreased by more than 10,000.

Plane Crash in Clarence New York

Near Buffalo New York a Continental Commuter Plane crashed killing all estimated 44-49 people on board. The plane reportedly was traveling from Newark to Buffalo.

Plane crashed on one person

There is an estimate that at least one person on the ground was killed as the plane crashed. At least one house was completely destroyed and began burning. It has reported that approximately three cars were destroyed.

Plane crashed just short of runway

I witnesses report the presence of fire burning trees, property and cars. There are pictures of pieces of the plane on fire reported by CNN live TV where Steven Walls provided the images from the scene.

The plane, Flight 3407, was apparently en route from Newark. It has been reported that witnesses heard a high pitch noise when the plane was coming down. It was also reported that the plane was on fire as it crashed in to the ground creating a large crater.

Our condolences

This is such a tragedy for the families of the victims. It is a horrible thing for them to be watching the news right now knowing that their loved ones may have been on that fatal flight. There are so many things going on in the economy that cause people massive amounts of stress. Adding such a heavy load like this on people is just a real heart breaker. All of our hearts go out for those who died and their families.

With the traditional lending market in so much trouble, people are turning to payday loans and other forms of credit to meet their financial needs. A lot of families have come up with creative ways of coming up with extra money, and one good example is the Humpherys from Staten Island, New York.

The family of four has made a hobby of collecting “found money“ from hallways, parking lots, sidewalks — anywhere and everywhere they go.

Short-term finds, long-term hobby

The Humpherys are Mom and Dad — Barbara and Scott – and two daughters: Brianna, 11, and Karen, 7. The parents have come up with a very creative way of teaching their children the importance of money. Traditional financial education covers subjects like interest rates and types of credit, like payday loans.

In the Humpherys family, financial education includes braving a freezing day in New York to scour a parking lot for pennies. It’s a hobby Barbara has been diligent about since college.

Picking up the pieces

Barbara says it all started three and a half years ago, when she saw 7 cents lying in the hallway of her college.  Since then, the family has developed a “fanatical devotion” to picking up change. Barbara even updates her blog every day saying how much change they found that day. Here’s an excerpt:

Today we found a total of 32 cents – three dimes and two pennies in spite of the freak snowstorm that crippled our post-workout plans this evening.

Every little bit helps

After three and a half years of collecting change, the Humpherys family has a total of $1,100 in quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies. But according to them, they’d take out payday loans before they would spend it on themselves. The family’s plan is to wait until they have a grand total of $10,000 and then donate it to a charity.

Barbara and Scott’s hope is that this exercise will not only teach their children that every penny counts, it will teach them to give back to their community.

Lessons learned

The plan seems to be working.

“Whatever the community gives you, you should help it when it’s having a hard time and give back,” 11-year-old Brianna stated proudly.

Another important lesson, taught through hours spent combing cold parking lots, is understanding that you have to work for your own money.

“With the economy the way it is right now, it’s important that they realize Dad is not this endless tap of cash,” said Scott.

How will it end?

So I did some number crunching. If the Humpherys continue to collect change at the same rate they have been for the last three and a half years, it will take them more than 30 years to meet their $10,000 goal. But having such a long-term project doesn’t seem to bother the Humpherys.

“A family that collects change together stays together,” Scott says.

The Humpherys are a good example of how financial education can bring a family together. Whether it’s finding creative ways to teach about money or educating your children about payday loans, the important thing is to give kids the tools they’ll need to survive in any economy.

Michael Bloomberg

As promised, your source for a quick payday loan brings you some high-profile job cuts announced today.

The third-most populated state in the country has hit quite the rough patch. Wednesday New York Schools Chancellor Joel Klein announced that if the governor’s current budget passes, the state might need to lay off 15,000 educators.

Apparently those educators will come from Staten Island. The City of Staten Island today announced that under Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposed budget they may have to cut as many as 23,000 city employees. That figure includes the 15,000 teacher jobs. It gets worse. This number is in addition to the 7 percent that Bloomberg already ordered agencies to cut from spending.

California losing its cool

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday said California was in a stage of emergency. Check out the details in this article from your quick payday loan source. Friday the City of Sacramento announced it may need to cut 500 city jobs to close its deficit. It currently faces a $50 million deficit.

Granted, surrounded by the astronomical numbers of workers that are being laid off from other institutions, 500 might seem like small potatoes. But I have a feeling this is only the first in a long string of announcements we will see about government layoffs in California. Also, with a $50 million deficit, I have a feeling we’ll be hearing more out of Sacramento.

Caterpillar job cuts crawling higher

On top of the massive job cuts Caterpillar has announced, the company said Friday it will lay off an additional 2,100 production workers. That brings the company’s total job losses to about 22,000.

Caterpillar is the world’s largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment. Reuters reports that “worldwide economic weakness (is) gutting orders for it earth-moving equipment.” Workers in three plants in Illinois will be affected by the new cuts.

More on Monday

Layoffs generally don’t happen over the weekend, but these days, who knows? I’ll be back at your quick payday loan source Monday to share new reports about big companies making big job cuts.

Those who are steadily employed today might find themselves without a job tomorrow due to the continuous rise in lay-offs and downsizing. And the unemployed have a hard time getting health insurance, payday loan and other financial benefits.

Payday loan companies will have to give the thumbs down to 4.5 million potential borrowers in the coming days. These are the jobless and recently unemployed and their numbers are still growing by the day. Unemployed people cannot apply for paycheck loans since they have no regular paycheck to look forward to. Their only option to claim some benefit is to file for unemployment.

Unemployed Americans breaking records

And that’s just what they are doing. Around 4.5 million jobless Americans are collecting unemployment benefits, the highest recorded in 26 years. The huge volume of calls caused multiple crashes in websites and telephone systems used for filing unemployment benefits.

Unemployed Americans crashing websites and phone systems

The sudden upsurge of callers and claimants came in the wake of the continuing rise of unemployment all over the state. The sad part is that claimants of unemployment compensation have to call again to file for extended benefits.

The statewide unemployment rate rose to 5.9% last November, up from 4.4% in 2007. The recent figure represents 6.5% of the national work force compared to 4.5% in the past year.

Internet and phone claims systems in North Carolina, New York and Ohio completely buckled down under the weight of heavy call volume and computer software glitches. State labor officials in other parts of the country also reported unusually heavy volume of callers that caused system slowdowns.

North Carolina

North Carolina’s skyrocketing unemployment rate and the rush of claims overwhelmed the state’s benefits website, causing it to break down twice this week. The incident has set two records for the state – the amount of paid benefits and total transactions made all in one day.

Last Monday, the sheer volume of people trying to claim benefits online was thrice that before the economic crunch began. The bulk of callers, coupled with phone line problems, flooded out the agency’s computers and kept some claimants from calling in.

The lines were fixed and were working again by afternoon of the same day after the agency installed an additional server, agency insiders said.

New York

New York’s online and phone claims system began to bog down last Monday and was completely inaccessible from morning until afternoon Tuesday when about 10,000 callers per hour sought to get in, said Labor Department spokesman Leo Rosales.

He said that it was not the huge volume of calls that caused the system to break down. It was caused by a bug in the software used for filer identity verification. This software is similar to those used by secure online payment systems, payday loan websites and paid membership sites to verify a visitor’s identity before allowing them access.

There are around 256,000 people in New York today who are collecting unemployment benefit claims, up from last year’s 184,000.

Ohio

In Ohio, the state’s unemployment benefits hotline was also overwhelmed by calls last Tuesday, causing system bottlenecks which left thousands of callers unable to get in. State Department spokesman Brian Harter said the benefits hotline normally receives around 7,500 calls per day. Calls recorded this week reached 80,000 a day.

Harter also added that claimants who tried to go online as an alternative failed because the website for filing claims also went down. It was not mentioned, however, if payday loan, credit reduction and debt consolidation websites were affected.

Keeping an Affair with Credit

The story, which carries on from the first novel, begins with Becky receiving a marriage proposal from Brandon.  This fabulous news, combined with her new career as a personal shopper at Barney’s, should have signaled a well-planned life for Becky—but no, everything had to be confused by parental intrusion, since both her mother and Brandon’s declared that the couple would be married in England and New York, respectively.  Since Becky could not refuse either one, she simply went on with the plans and devised an idiotic scheme so she and Brandon could be present at both weddings, which would take place within twenty-four hours of each other.  Quite a hilarious setup for fiction, but the decisions Becky made along the way dug a deeper hole for her financial state.  See, Becky herself got excited over the idea of two weddings that she began lapsing into her old ways; and her credit card—now supercharged with extra strength via association with Brandon—plowed through a rigorous workout.  While not many real brides-to-be would find themselves in the same situation, getting carried away with wedding-related expenses is a believable scenario.

Setting a Budget

Most couples planning their weddings set budgets that they can work with, considering their financial situations.  However, in the quest to make everything perfect, other expenses creep in and soon take over the whole plan.  Unlike Becky’s style of throwing caution to the wind and make her debts take care of themselves, keeping track of these unplanned purchases within a reasonable amount may make the problem much easier.  The solution?  Get payday loan.  This way, those extras and touches that would make a wedding memorable are kept just the way they were meant to be, without being significant enough to mark the start of a new life with huge debts.  Because payday loans are generally fuss-free and anywhere within $100 to $1,500, newlyweds would be assured that they could be paid off easily.

A New Life Begins

At this day and age, lavish weddings are distasteful and unrealistic—unless you’re Paris Hilton.  But since many couples would definitely want a wedding to remember, making the right choices are key.  Do some research, attend weddings.  Ask newly-married friends about their suppliers and costs.  Enlist the services of a friend who can create wedding gowns, or find a young new designer who still charges low fees.  There are many ways to keep expenses at an amount that will best produce the most beautiful experience ever, without going in over your head.  If you find yourself getting carried away, don’t fret—there are payday loans just waiting in the wings to tide you over.  To keep you in touch with reality, just remember Becky Bloomwood.

Latest acquisition had less to do with the team than other factors

While the allure of donning the pinstripes of a Yankees uniform is appealing to some, to Teixeira it was reportedly one of the further things from his mind. According to his agent, the Yankees weren’t the most lucrative of offers, but the deal clincher was that his wife, Leigh, who suggested to him that he should take the offer from New York. She was in favor of  him joining the Bronx Bombers over other teams, especially the Red Sox, who have won a pennant in the last five years.   (They have won two, as a matter of fact.)

The latest acquisition of the New York Yankees has been burning up the headlines in the sports columns across the country, as the Yankees were one of the teams that were competing to secure the services of Mark Teixeira.  Teixeira, a hot property first baseman, came in to free agency at the end of the 2008 season, which he ended with the Anaheim Angels, after being traded mid-season from the Atlanta Braves.

Upon graduation from college, he was drafted again by The Texas Rangers.  He played with the Rangers from 2003 to 2007, Atlanta from 2007 to 2008 and was traded in July 2008 to the Anaheim Angels, and then at the end of his 2008 season entered free agency as one the most sought after free agents.  In his MLB tenure, he’s won two Golden Gloves and two Silver Bats, and can play first and third base as well as outfield.  Oh yeah, and on top of all that, he is one of only five players that hit 100 home runs in his first three seasons; one of the other members of that list is Yankee legend Joe DiMaggio.  With a career like this, one doubts that he would have to get payday loans to cover the move from LA to New York.

Family comes first – along with a truck load of cash

While some will no doubt be mocking the deciding factor in the move, a baseball player who exhibits strong family values is commendable.  The fact that he is a great player on both offense and defense is a bonus. Payday loans can work in much the same way, if you are going to fall short on an upcoming bill, or if a sudden expense throws you a curve, you can apply for payday loans through Personalmoneystore.com to pinch hit or step in to provide relief pitching.

Merrill Lynch executive seeks bonus for failing his company

Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain is currently seeking a bonus for 2008 in the amount of around $10 million.  This is after Merrill Lynch and Co. barely avoided bankruptcy and company failure by selling their company to Bank of America to avoid slipping away.  Merrill Lynch took a nosedive over the fiscal year in the wake of the collapse of the mortgage market, losing billions in the process.  The Merrill Lynch executive staff determined that the best course of action was to sell the company’s shares to Bank of America to avoid closing their doors.  According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal¸ Thain’s reasoning and justification for the bonus is that his actions, or selling the company, was the best option that they had on the table to avoid even more unpleasant alternatives since they weren’t getting government payday loans, and therefore because the company did not go bankrupt, he therefore deserves a healthy bonus to his already ample income as CEO for his prevention of the company going into insolvency, even though it is doubtful that at this point he needs extra money.
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has termed his request as “nothing less than shocking.”  The board of directors appears to be in agreement with him, and is resisting the request for the bonus.  A bonus for an executive should be when the company turns a large profit, creates more jobs and revenue, instead of just merely not going bankrupt.  It seems that his pay should be docked, and not augmented.  Perhaps the employees of Merrill Lynch should get a bonus for putting up with such arrogant behavior from their management team.  The amount of executive compensation in Wall Street and other large companies has become an item of much media scrutiny of late, as many executives continue to receive large bonuses every year in addition to ample salaries regardless of how well their companies do or not.  It seems odd that people be rewarded for failure rather than for success, since the rest of us, including lower level Merrill Lynch employees, would be punished or stripped of our employment for failing to produce

The only way a person can be rewarded for failure

It seems as though the executive class of Wall Street are the only people who can get rewarded for not doing their jobs.  If we, us normal folks, were to miss a mortgage payment, we would get hit with penalties, interest, and fees.  If we don’t do what we are supposed to do for our employers, we would get disciplined, and if it happened enough times, terminated for noncompliance.  If we fall short in our financial obligations, we take extra measures to make up for a temporary shortage, like getting payday loans to cover if we have a sudden expense.  These Wall Street wizards look for extra cash for shorting their shareholders and employees.