Banks & State Taxes

Posted on by

Paul Gores:

Twenty-six banks have agreed to pay a total of $23 million in back taxes stemming from their use of Nevada tax shelters, and state tax officials said more settlements are imminent.
The back-tax total announced Monday was the first released by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue since it began a crackdown this year on the practice by many banks of shifting some of their income-earning assets, such as loans and bonds, to subsidiaries in Nevada.

This doesn’t seem like a whole lot of money given the size of the banks, perhaps it’s more of a PR deal.

Public Fiber Tough to Swallow?

Posted on by

John Gartner:

Across the United States, towns and cities dissatisfied with data services provided by the private sector are now delivering high-speed connectivity to the doorstep, often at lower prices.
In the process, however, municipalities are facing increasingly fierce opposition from cable operators and telecommunications companies unhappy with the competition. In some cases, cable companies and telcos are fighting to bar utilities entirely from providing broadband in the future.
Special Partner Promotion

Note that our current slow “broadband” providers are lagging the world in costs and speed. Much like roads, sewer and water, fiber networks should be a public good (transport only) while others provide services on those very fast networks.
John Perry Barlow comments on this. Robert Berger also has some useful notes vis a vis widespread free WiFi deployments. Doc Searls offers some useful notes on the “lame” broadband services available today.
Governments should be paying attention as their POTS (plain old telephone system) tax revenue will rapidly diminish over the next 5 years. Telephone calls have declined 50% since 1997.

Presidential Campaigns Visiting Madison

Posted on by

20 years ago, I along with some of my roommates attended a Mondale-Ferraro rally on the Capitol Square. I seem to recall that many attended simply to catch a glimpse of Walter Mondale’s daughter, Eleanor. I’ve scanned some photos from that date and posted them here:

This week’s campaign visits include:

Garcetti’s Disney Hall Photos

Posted on by


Book cover of ‘Iron: Erecting the Disney Concert Hall.’ Credit: Gil Garcetti
Former L.A. County District Attorney Gil Garcetti is known for his high-profile prosecutions of O.J. Simpson and the Menendez brothers.
But he left the district attorney’s office in 2000 and got out his cameras, turning a lifelong hobby — photography — into a second career. He talks with Scott Simon about his images of the ironworkers who built the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, designed by architect Frank Gehry.

Posted in Art.

Lean, Green Money Machine

Posted on by


Dale Buss explains how the Packers have thrived, despite their small market.

For the past two years, the Packers have ranked 10th out of the league’s 32 clubs in overall revenue, up 10 spots from 2001. After a $295 million expansion and renovation completed last year, Lambeau has become a lucrative year-round attraction. And the Packers’ cash kitty now exceeds $84 million, seemingly on the way to a $107 million goal that would give it a year’s operating costs in reserve.
The NFL’s financial structure, which distributes TV and licensing revenue evenly to all teams, has created a level playing field for the Packers. Fans snap up every ticket to home games, and the waiting list for a Lambeau Field season pass is still more than 63,000 names long for a 72,500-seat stadium. More than 105,000 Packer backers responded when the team sold nonvoting shares for $200 apiece in the late ’90s. “When we play on Sundays, the people in the stands aren’t just fans, but shareholders,” says Robert Harlan, a 33-year team executive who has been president since 1989.

Brewers likely sold to out of state buyer(s)?

Posted on by


Don Walker explains:

A Los Angeles-based investor has emerged as a potential new owner of the Milwaukee Brewers, bringing to three the number of individuals or groups seriously looking at buying the team.
Two sources with knowledge of the sale said Mark L. Attanasio, a partner in the investment firm Trust Company of the West, is looking at making a bid for the team.

Attanasio is an ex-Drexel Burnham Lambert banker (Michael Milken’s firm). He was also on the board of Global Crossing.
The Brewers are a tough deal all around. It will be interesting to see if these folks can make money (if a deal happens).
A final word: despite many misgivings about the Seligs (particularily the entire Miller Park unpleasantness), there would be no major league baseball in Milwaukee without Bud.