Former Vatican accountant charged with money laundering [FT]
“Monsignor 500” is going to be needing your prayers: "Italian authorities have brought money laundering charges against a priest who formerly worked as a senior accountant for the Vatican, accusing him of using offshore accounts to channel millions of euros in fake donations through his accounts at the Vatican bank."
For the Love of Money [NYT]
Sam Polk, a former hedge fund manager, writes about his wealth addiction. "In my last year on Wall Street my bonus was $3.6 million — and I was angry because it wasn’t big enough. I was 30 years old, had no children to raise, no debts to pay, no philanthropic goal in mind. I wanted more money for exactly the same reason an alcoholic needs another drink: I was addicted."
Oh sure, Grover's got nice words now that someone he's regularly attacked in the past will be out of the way.
Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn has always been a strong foe of wasteful government spending. His voice will be missed in Senate.
— Grover Norquist (@GroverNorquist) January 21, 2014
My Job: Beth Franklin, Certified Public Accountant [MST]
If you're not quite sure what you're in for this busy season, Beth fills you in: "I put in 40 percent of my hours in three months of the year. I worked 85 hours a week last tax season." That sounds terrible but to be fair, here's the rest: "I work four days a week the rest of the year, and [my firm is] more liberal with time off.” She works at Fox Tax LLC in Minneapolis if that sounds good to you.
Roadblocks ahead for tax reform [The Hill]
Here's a car metaphor from Texas Representative Kevin Brady! "I think on any major reforms, moving from the concept car to a production model is always difficult. We’ve got to weigh how best we can take this message and these ideas to the American public. Because I think they’re winning ideas.”
Washington governor vows to do more to keep Boeing, even after $9 billion in tax breaks [AP]
Governor Jay Inslee wants their help on "water quality issues, workers' compensation costs and improved transportation infrastructure," which is slightly outside the scope of most Mom & Pop engineering firms.
The 25 Worst Passwords of 2013: 'Password' Gets Dethroned [CIO]
Your new champion is "123456" with "123456789" coming in second and "password" falling to third. Take a minute to change yours now.
New Fake Trend: Middle Schoolers Snorting Smarties [Gawker]
Except that it's an old fake trend.
