MARKET WATCH
| Month |
High |
Low |
Average |
| January 2005 |
6.85 |
6.43 |
6.63 |
| February 2005 |
7.52 |
6.55 |
7.07 |
| March 2005 |
7.60 |
6.91 |
7.27 |
| April 2005 |
7.33 |
6.90 |
7.13 |
| May 2005 |
7.44 |
6.84 |
7.05 |
| 2004 |
8.21 |
5.51 |
6.67 |
ASSOCIATION NEWS
News:
Meetings:
- SUA Fall Meeting Dates Set
October 18 -19 in Washington, DC at the Army-Navy Club.
Anyone interested in sponsoring, please contact Paul Miller at pmiller@mwcapitol.com.
Note:
U.S. INDICTS 4 TENNESSEE LAWMAKERS IN CORRUPTION CASE
By John Branston (New York Times)
Published: May 27, 2005
MEMPHIS, May 26 - Four members of the Tennessee legislature, including a member of the Ford family dynasty in Memphis, were indicted on Thursday after a two-year undercover operation by the F.B.I. whose outcome has rattled the state's political establishment.
Among those indicted was State Senator John N. Ford, one of the most powerful politicians in Memphis, who was charged with extorting $55,000 from a bogus company created by the bureau. He was also indicted on three counts of threatening to shoot or kill anyone he suspected was an F.B.I. agent or was trying to set him up.
Mr. Ford was arrested in Nashville, was transported to Memphis and remained in federal custody pending a detention hearing Friday. His arrest came a day after a nephew, Representative Harold E. Ford Jr., Democrat of Tennessee, filed paperwork to run for the seat being vacated next year by Bill Frist, the majority leader of the United States Senate.
John Ford's brother Harold Ford Sr. is a former congressman who was acquitted of federal corruption charges in 1993 in the same Memphis courtroom where the handcuffed defendant made his initial court appearance Thursday afternoon. Two other brothers serve on the Memphis City Council and Shelby County Commission.
The indictments, announced by United States Attorney Terrell L. Harris, named three other state lawmakers and a former state legislator who is now an aide to the mayor of Shelby County, which encompasses Memphis.
"Government is not for sale," Mr. Harris said at a news conference here, adding that the investigation, code-named Tennessee Waltz, was continuing.
Mark Gwyn, director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, said, "We hope this will bring some public trust back to the citizens of the state of Tennessee."
Indicted along with Mr. Ford were former State Senator Roscoe Dixon of Memphis, a Democrat who is now a top aide to the Shelby County mayor, A C Wharton; State Senator Kathryn I. Bowers, Democrat of Memphis, a former state representative who was sworn in one week ago to succeed Mr. Dixon; State Senator Ward Crutchfield, Democrat of Chattanooga; and State Representative J. Chris Newton, Republican of Cleveland. Also indicted were Barry Myers of Memphis and Charles Love of Chattanooga, each of whom was described by the government as a "bagman."
Mr. Dixon, Ms. Bowers, Mr. Crutchfield, Mr. Newton and Mr. Ford are all charged with taking money from the bogus company, E-Cycle Management, to introduce and pass legislation that would enable it to operate profitably in Tennessee.
According to the indictments, the F.B.I. set up E-Cycle in 2003 and portrayed it as a business that obtained and disposed of outdated electronic equipment by sending it outside the United States for salvage. Its headquarters were said to be in Atlanta.
At the news conference, neither Mr. Harris nor other government officials would comment on how E-Cycle had solicited business.
The sight of the usually dapper John Ford walking into a federal courtroom in Memphis without a necktie and in handcuffs was only the latest turn in a long, colorful career.
Senator Ford was once acquitted of firing a gun at a truck driver through the sunroof of his car. Earlier this year he testified to now dividing his time between two families in two homes in Memphis - one with his current girlfriend and mother of two of his children, the other with his former wife and mother of three of them. And earlier this month, he was fined $10,000 for spending $15,000 in campaign money on his daughter's wedding reception in 2003.
Mr. Ford is also under federal investigation in another case, for payments totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars that he received from OmniCare Health Plan, a managed care organization.
The indictments were a blow to Democrats in Memphis, their last stronghold in the state, and came at an awkward time for Harold Ford Jr., who was keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention in 2000 and is considered one of the bright young faces in the party.
Asked Thursday night about the charges, the congressman, attending a graduation ceremony for a Memphis church's day school, tried to put some distance between himself and his uncle.
"I think people know the difference between the two of us," he said, adding, "It's a sad day as a Tennessean, as a nephew of someone who has found himself accused of some pretty awful things."
In Nashville, the state capital, workers crowded around television sets on Thursday as news of the indictments broke.
"Today is a sad day on many levels," said the first-term Democratic governor, Phil Bredesen, according to The Associated Press. "I think all of us feel that the important thing to do is keep a steady hand."
CHINA'S CURRENCY
The debate over whether to take a more aggressive stance on China's policy of "pegging" their currency to the dollar has stepped up a notch. Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) have introduced legislation, S. 295, to impose a retaliatory tariff of 27.5 percent if China does not revalue its currency. The Senators were successful in forcing the Senate leadership to commit to a vote on the bill. They held the Foreign Affairs authorization bill ransom until the leadership agreed to a guaranteed vote before July 29 of this year. Meanwhile, Representatives Duncan Hunter (R-CA) and Tim Ryan (D-OH) have introduced a bill that takes a more "moderate" approach to the issue. Their bill would define China's currency policy as an illegal subsidy for the purposes of U.S. unfair trade practice laws. The legislation would require the U.S. government to evaluate the impact of the policy on the U.S. and then impose countervailing duties.
IRS ISSUES RETIREMENT PLAN GUIDE
The IRS has released a new Retirement Plan Resource Guide for smaller businesses. The CD-ROM, Individual Retirement Arrangement (IRA) Resource Guide for Small Business Owners and Individuals, contains information about both traditional and Roth IRAs. It also covers IRA-based retirement plans for employers, including simplified employee pensions (SEPs), SIMPLE IRAs, and payroll deduction IRA plans.
The new CD pulls together various IRA-related print and electronic information from the IRS, as well as from other federal agencies. It provides help in making decisions about setting up a plan that is best for your business, making contributions to the plan, investing funds, and taking distributions. It also explains the rules for keeping these plans in compliance with the law, including methods for correcting errors in plan administration. To get a free copy of the CD, call the IRS toll-free at 1-800-TAX-FORM (829-3676) and ask for Publication 4395. An online version is available on the newly-revamped "Retirement Plans" section on IRS.gov.
COMPETITIVE SOURCING
During the full committee markup of the FY 2006 National Defense Authorization bill today, a Hefley/Langevin compromise amendment was introduced and accepted without objection. We knew that an anti-competitive sourcing amendment would be introduced yesterday-but did not know specific language-and we sent the attached letter to all Armed Services Committee Members. I have yet to obtain a copy of the exact language of the accepted amendment, but it will give federal employees broader protest abilities and not sure what else. Other possibilities are a pilot program for federal employees and forbidding the contracting out of functions performed by more than ten Defense Department civilian employees without first conducting a public-private competition. We will work to remove this as it goes to the full House and, if unsuccessful there, during conference committee.
BUY AMERICAN
An amendment to the FY 2006 Homeland Security Authorization bill introduced by Rep. Manzullo during full floor debate was passed by voice vote late this afternoon. The amendment strengthens the "Buy America Act" and mandates that more than 50% of the components in end products purchased by Department of Homeland Security shall be mined, produced, or manufactured inside the United States. I have attached the amendment (it could have been modified slightly from this version, but I don't believe it has)
THE DISAPPEARING PENSION
May 31, 2005 - Jonathan Tasini is president of the Economic Future Group and writes his "Working In America" columns for TomPaine.com on an occasional basis.
Here's a basic moral value: taking someone's money without their permission is stealing. Except in America, where, if you're a corporation that takes away someone's pension, it's okay. And the question is: Why isn't the progressive movement making a huge deal out of this?
With very little public outcry, we are letting corporate America dismantle the private defined-benefit pension system. At the same time, huge salary and pension benefits are lavished on executives. Remember, pensions are deferred compensation-people put off getting money in their paychecks today because of a promise that they would receive a specific amount of money (hence, the term "defined benefit") many years later. It's their money, not the companies' money. The private pension was a fundamental pillar of the American middle-class dream: If you saved now, you could still have a middle-class life in retirement, and you wouldn't have to gamble in the stock market to do so.
Here are the amazing numbers: the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), the government agency that is supposed to protect the private pension system, recently estimated that the amount of money currently owed to cover pension liabilities is $450 billion; 851 pension plans are underfunded by at least $50 million. United Airlines may have been the biggest pension default ever but we're looking at a looming financial catastrophe: The PBGC, which takes over defaulted plans, had a $23 billion deficit in 2004 and that's just the proverbial tip of the iceberg. Part of the crisis stems from the 1990s collapse of the stock market and low interest rates (which keeps returns on bonds low).
On occasion, a news story has popped up cluing people in to the crisis. And earlier this month, when a court allowed United Airlines to dump its four employee pensions onto the government -the largest pension-plan default in U.S. corporate history-there was a blip of interest. Soon it was forgotten, except by the 134,000 workers who will lose an average of 25 to 50 percent of the value of their pensions. But where are the voices of a national campaign to confront the looting of peoples' retirement funds?
The problem is simple: the system is gamed against workers, allowing corporations to gamble with workers' money. Corporate America played has used what is effectively workers' money to finance mergers and acquisitions, and a lavish lifestyle for executives. The cruelest irony? When the PBGC collapses, requiring a huge government bailout, it will be taxpayers who will foot the bill. So, some of the same people who already gave up income for a promised pension will indirectly pay a second time to rescue their own pension.
The government has played along with this scam. The PBGC's decision to let United dump its pensions, "shifted all the costs of poor management decisions and competition to the oldest and most loyal workers," said Teresa Ghilarducci, a professor of economics at Notre Dame University. Worse, she points out, the PBGC is violating the law which requires it to "encourage the continuation and maintenance of voluntary private pension plans for the benefit of their participants," not to let companies off the hook.
As for our elected representatives-Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., is a notable exception-most of Congress is ignoring the problem. Miller just introduced a bill that tries to stem some of the worst abuses by corporations that file for bankruptcy, like preventing the additional funding of pensions for executives when rank-and-file workers' pensions are starved for cash.
I'm particularly perplexed at the lack of coordinated, mass protest by labor. To me, this feels like an air-traffic controller moment. Back in 1981, when Ronald Reagan fired the striking air-traffic controllers, unions failed to see that fight as an assault on the entire labor movement. It wasn't the first union-busting act in America, but it ushered in more than two decades of brass-knuckled assaults on unions because it set a tone of acceptability and normality to something that had previously been viewed with a bit of distaste.
The obliteration of the retirement for 134,000 United Airlines workers is a signal to corporate America that union-negotiated pensions are on the chopping block and can be raided, tapped or eliminated for financial gain. Back in the 1980s, when bankrupt LTV Corp. tried to cut retiree benefits, thousands of people took to the streets, and Congress responded, albeit with legislation that simply made the bar a bit higher for corporations trying to cancel pensions. Now, we're facing a much bigger debacle-and, yet, the streets are calm. But everyone's pension is now in eminent danger.
Beyond labor, the relative inaction of progressives is baffling. I'd wager that millions of mainstream Americans-self-described as moderate, independents and even social conservatives-could be moved on this issue alone. With progressives obsessing about finding the right message to connect with Americans, I can't think of a better issue: They are taking your hard-earned money! Rather than hold yet another policy conference to ponder the message, why aren't there mass demonstrations in front of United Airlines, the PBGC, or the courts that are allowing companies to ditch pensions?
Perhaps the answer is that the demise of the private pension is just another example of something we are all vulnerable to: accepting pervasive corporate power in an era of diminishing expectations. Wall Street is telling corporations that pensions just burden their financial books, retarding stock prices. Companies, in turn, are saying that if they are forced to fully fund pensions (which they do not have to do now), they will dump pensions. So people-many of whom probably never had a private pension-just shrug their shoulders and put their faith in the stock market or inflated housing values.
It shouldn't be so. Back in the Carter administration, people started talking about a national pension system that would bridge or supplement what people got through Social Security, partly by sharing the financial risks across industries. It's time to revive that idea. Beyond the policy, though, is a powerful message: The security of a private defined-benefit pension, protected from the casino-like atmosphere typical of plans now in vogue, is part of the prosperity and opportunity that corporations must create as a cost of doing business in our communities.
BUSH TO REAPPOINT WALTER LUKKEN TO CFTC
Just day's after Commissioner Walter Lukken addressed members of the Silver Users Association at its May meeting in Washington, DC, the White House announced that President Bush intends to nominate Commodity Futures Trading Commissioner Lukken for the remainder of a five-year term expiring April 2010.
Lukken first was tapped to serve on the commission in early 2002, for a seat that expired in April. Chair of the commission's Global Markets Advisory Committee, he previously was a staffer on the Senate Agriculture Committee.
EXPORT-IMPORT BANK WORKS ON SMALL BUSINESS INITIATIVE
Ex-Im Bank is committed to support small business exporters. In fact, about 85% of the Bank's transactions support small businesses. Small businesses can access all Ex-Im Bank products, including specialized small business financing tools such as our working capital guarantee and export credit insurance.
Our working capital guarantee and insurance products enable small businesses to increase sales by entering new markets, expand their borrowing base, and offer buyers financing while carrying less risk. Often, small-sized exporters do not have adequate cash flow or cannot get a loan to fulfill an export sales order. The Ex-Im Bank working capital guarantee assumes up to 90% of the lender's risk so exporters can access the necessary funds to purchase or produce US-made goods and services for export.
Our short-term insurance policies protect an exporter against non-payment by their foreign buyers due to both commercial (insolvency, bankruptcy and default) and political risks (war, revolution, transfer risk) and also allows exporters to extend competitive credit terms to their foreign buyers. To qualify as a small business, the U.S. exporter (together with affiliates) must meet the U.S. Small Business Administration's definition of a small business and have annual export credit sales of less than $5 million (excluding confirmed letters of credit and cash in advance) for the last two years (including those of their affiliates). There are two types of short-term insurance policies - single buyer, which covers single or multiple shipments to one buyer, and multi-buyer, which covers an exporter's entire export portfolio. Features of the multi-buyer insurance policy include:
- No first-loss deductible
- Simplified premium-rate schedule
- Enhanced assignment (for qualified exporters), an attractive financing feature that allows a lender to add foreign receivables into the borrowing base or advance funds on the insured receivables with limited risk.
Ex-Im Bank works with small businesses at the local level through its five regional offices that provide assistance to companies in their territories. We also work through a nationwide network of nearly 40 City/State Partners - state and local organizations that provide information and assistance on the Ex-Im Bank's products. We also work with 120 delegated authority lenders in 28 states that can directly commit Ex-Im Bank's guarantee on working capital loans. In addition to our regional office staff, insurance brokers in every state can assist with Ex-Im Bank's export credit insurance applications.
Ex-Im Bank participates in approximately 20 trade shows and sponsors more than 20 exporter seminars every year, including events involving small exporters as well as exporters of environmentally beneficial goods and services.
For more information on this program go to: www.exim.gov
CORPORATION CHARTERS HURTING U.S. EFFORTS TO FIGHT MONEY LAUNDERING
Uninformative corporate charters issued by Delaware and at least two other states are complicating U.S. efforts to fight money laundering and terrorist financing, Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) recently told a Treasury Department official.
Rep. Royce, a member of the House Financial Services Oversight Subcommittee, said several states issue corporate charters that reveal little information about those involved, making such firms largely opaque in terms of their ownership and control.
That limits corporate transparency in the U.S., which in turn will make it harder for U.S. authorities to gain cooperation abroad when it comes to battling money launderers and terrorism financiers. "The states collect, in these cases, no information about the identity of the officers, about the directors, no information about beneficial ownership," Royce told William Fox, director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. "If we allow anonymous corporate shells, how are we going to be able to pressure other jurisdictions around the world to clean up their act?" Royce asked.
For more information on money laundering check out our public policy area.
HOUSE AND SENATE INTRODUCE SILVER LEGISLATION
In April Representatives J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ), Jim Gibbons (R-NV), David Dreier (R-CA), Ron Paul (R-TX), Joe Wilson (R-SC), Phil English (R-PA) introduced legislation in the House which amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to treat gold, silver, platinum, and palladium, in either coin or bar form, in the same manner as equities and mutual funds for purposes of the maximum capital gains rate for individuals. A companion bill has been introduced in the Senate (S. 1157) by Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID).
Text of the bill:
A BILL
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to treat gold, silver, platinum, and palladium, in either coin or bar form, in the same manner as equities and mutual funds for purposes of the maximum capital gains rate for individuals.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
Section 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Fair Treatment for Precious Metals Investors Act'.
Section 2. Gold, Silver, Platinum, and Palladium Treated in the Same Manner as Stocks and Bonds for Maximum Capital Gains Rate for Individuals.
(a) In General- Section 1(h)(5) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to definition of collectibles gain and loss) is amended-
(1) by striking `(as defined in section 408(m) without regard to paragraph (3) thereof)' in subparagraph
(A), and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
'(C) COLLECTIBLE- For purposes of this paragraph, the term `collectible' has the meaning given such term by section 408(m), except that in applying paragraph (3)(B) thereof the determination of whether any bullion is excluded from treatment as a collectible shall be made without regard to the person who is in physical possession of the bullion.'.
(b) Effective Date- The amendments made by subsection (a) shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2004.
BUSH PICKS REPUBLICAN COX TO HEAD SEC
President Bush on Thursday named Rep. Christopher Cox, a champion of curbing investor lawsuits against companies, to head the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, prompting predictions the regulatory agency will be softer on big business.
The 52-year-old California Republican, who would replace William Donaldson, faces a Senate review. Donaldson, 74, has been criticized by some business groups for his aggressive reforms and said on Wednesday he will step down on June 30.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby said he will promptly schedule a hearing on the nomination.
Cox has been in Congress since 1988, representing affluent Orange County near Los Angeles. As a lawmaker, he has advocated lower investment income taxes and was an architect of a 1995 law that made it more difficult to sue corporations.
Cox said he was impressed by the SEC when he worked as a private securities lawyer. "The rule of law that the SEC enforces has given America the most dynamic and vibrant capital markets in the world," he said.
Some academics said Bush's choice may signal a move away from pro-active protection of investors and the beginning of a more hands-off SEC approach to policing markets and companies.
"He'll be a formidable chairman, but it will be a major change in direction," said Columbia University Law School Professor John Coffee.
"This is about as dramatic a shift in the tenor of the commission, in the middle of a presidential term, as we have ever seen," said Joel Seligman, dean of the Washington University Law School in St. Louis and a noted SEC historian.
"You're more likely to see an SEC that the Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable are more comfortable with," he said.
Cox would be the first sitting congressman nominated to chair the SEC -- a development that Seligman said raises questions about politicizing the agency, which traditionally tries to hold itself apart from Washington politics.
ARGENTIUM® SILVER SOLDERS: TRANSFORMING THE WORLD OF STERLING SILVER SOLDERS FOR JEWELERS AND METALSMITHS
Argentium® Silver Company today introduced the first range of solders specifically developed for use with Argentium® Sterling Silver. These high-quality solders have excellent color and free-flowing properties.
Until now, there have been very few new developments with sterling silver solders. Argentium® Silver Solders offer jewelers and metalsmiths improved whiteness, combined with a considerable reduction in working temperatures. These new solders match the color and maintain the unique properties of Argentium® Sterling Silver throughout the final piece. The following range of silver contents is available: Easy (Flow Temp: 1253 F / 678 C), Medium (Flow Temp: 1319 F / 715 C), and Hard (Flow Temp: 1355 F / 735 C).
Argentium® Silver Solders can be used with both Argentium® Sterling Silver and standard sterling and provide a variety of benefits including:
- Range of Easy, Medium and Hard solders
- Excellent color
- Free-flowing
- Lower melting temperatures
- Highly tarnish resistant
Argentium® Easy, Medium and Hard Solders are available in both wire and sheet. Solder-filled wire for chain making and solder-flush sheet will be available beginning in September.
"Argentium® Silver Solders provide the missing link to designers, silversmiths and manufacturers who wish to convert entirely to this premium material," comments Michael Merolla, Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Stern-Leach - the leading manufacturer of silver alloy and fabricated silver in the U.S.
About SUA
The Silver Users Association is a non-profit organization that was established in 1947 to represent the interests of companies that make, sell and distribute products and services in which silver is an essential component.
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