How Romney Avoided Controversial Tax Practice [WW/WSJ]
Mitt Romney appears to have dodged a bullet after his lawyer said last week that the GOP candidate never engaged in a tax practice that’s now being investigated by New York’s attorney general. The statement, however, created another mystery: How did Mr. Romney avoid getting involved in a tax practice that appears to have been widely used in recent years at his old firm, Bain Capital? According to a person familiar with Bain’s retirement agreements, the answer is fairly simple: The way Mr. Romney’s retirement agreement was structured didn’t give him an opportunity to participate.
Facebook Handled their IPO Exactly Right [MB via MW]
Mark Cuban: "Facebook was able to raise about 10 BILLION DOLLARS in this IPO. The CFO’s job is not to manage shareholder portfolios. His job is to help Facebook succeed. I don’t know about you, but putting 10 BILLION DOLLARS in the bank in my opinion is one way to help them succeed. Who’s job is it to help manage the portfolio’s of FB investors ? If an investor doesn’t manage their own portfolio, the brokers who sold them the stock are responsible. It’s their job to read the prospectus if you as an investor are too lazy to do so. It is the job of the broker to help the investor understand the value of the company and make a buying decision. No question that there are a lot of brokers out there that did not do their jobs."
Reason #17 to Hire Me: Blaming Turbo Tax Can Not Protect You From Penalties [DT]
Alternative title: Taxes shouldn't be this complicated.
Tax Planks in Democratic Party Platform [TaxProf]
FYI.
Lehman’s Detroit Escape Means 90% Loss On Properties: Mortgages [Bloomberg]
Literally pennies on the dollar.
What do you get with a menage a trois, drugs, a revolver and a SWAT team? Trouble in Pasco County [TBT]
David Rice and his wife, Mindi, both 29 and already familiar with the Pasco jail, spent Wednesday evening at their home on 20th Street injecting themselves with prescription drugs and having sex with a 24-year-old woman. They all fell asleep. Then Mrs. Rice woke early Thursday to find her husband trying to have sex again with their friend — without her, deputies said. This made her angry, sheriff's spokesman Kevin Doll said. Mr. Rice insisted "he was only trying to grab the covers to cover himself," Doll added. Mrs. Rice grabbed a loaded revolver, threatened to kill the woman and fired a round into the ceiling, deputies reported. Her husband took the gun away, authorities said, and squeezed her throat "with one hand while holding the handgun beside her face." "B—-, I'll f—— kill you," Mr. Rice told his wife, according to the report. He fired the gun, the bullet whizzing past Mrs. Rice's head and lodging into the wall. The woman called 911 and managed to escape about 2 a.m. The husband and wife refused to come outside, so the SWAT team assembled. The standoff lasted two hours. The couple eventually came outside voluntarily, but Mr. Rice fought with deputies who shocked him with a Taser. He ran back inside, barricading doors, but was persuaded to give up by negotiators.