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Check out the pork in the bailout bill
Oh, I know we’re not supposed to call it “pork.” It’s now “sweeteners.” And it’s not a “bailout.” It’s now a “recovery” bill. I get it. It’s all about marketing, and to properly market it to Americans (i.e. Get them to “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!”) we have to use better [...]
Continue reading...The $700 billion bailout should fail on its own merits
02 Oct 2008
..not be passed through because of other legislation that the taxpayers deserve to have regardless of whether it’s attached to to bailout. This $700 billion (probably more like $1 trillion or $2 trillion) bailout that was passed by the Senate last night is really no better than what the House voted against just a couple of [...]
Continue reading...Criminal charges against Amway in India
01 Oct 2008
Guest post by Pyramid Scheme Alert In a letter to a Director of Pyramid Scheme Alert, the chief of police in one of India’s largest states, Andhra Pradesh, wrote that a criminal case has been booked by the government’s Criminal Investigation Division against Amway India for promoting a “Money Circulation Scheme” in the disguise of Direct [...]
Continue reading...The lure of multi-level marketing
30 Sep 2008
I constantly marvel at how multi-level marketing (MLM) can continue to lure in millions of people a year, who collectively pump billions of dollars into these losers. Time and again, industry experts calculate a failure rate of 99% (failure = losing money on the deal) … And still consumers line up to sign up for [...]
Continue reading...The UFF Money Merge Account money shuffle explained
29 Sep 2008
Guest post by Joe Taxpayer As I looked at multiple United First Financial agents’ sites, I found the common thread was the claim that one simply can’t do this on their own, that the shifting of funds from a checking account, to a HELOC, and then to a primary mortgage somehow needed such a [...]
Continue reading...Mark Cuban’s idea on a private bailout of the financial sector
26 Sep 2008
Mark Cuban has an idea: Let’s scrap this government bailout of the financial sector and instead make it private. Create an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) that buys the distressed securities these companies want to get rid of, as well as all warrants and shares of stock in the companies themselves. Investors choose whether or not [...]
Continue reading...Somebody please check Henry Paulson
24 Sep 2008
This whole “bailout” of the financial sector bothers me. It bothers me that as a taxpayer, I will be on the hook for a nice chunk of the $500 billion to $1 trillion that this will cost. (And the way things are looking, the cost may be closer to $2 trillion.) It bothers me that executives [...]
Continue reading...Bailout to include consumer debt?
24 Sep 2008
The Wall Street bailout, publicly estimated to cost taxpayers somewhere between $700 billion and $1 trillion or more, could end up to be bigger than we ever imagined. Now added to the bailout plan: student loans, auto loans, credit card debt, and other “troubled” debt. The Washington Times reports:
Continue reading...Dissolve MPS? Yes, please!
20 Sep 2008
Late this past week, the Milwaukee Public Schools board voted 6 to 3 in favor of “examining” the possibility of dissolving the district. This would be a sort of bankruptcy situation, and basically that is where the district is headed eventually. The teachers are so grossly overpaid and the administration is so excessively wasteful with [...]
Continue reading...Wauwatosa teachers doing less because they got a raise
14 Sep 2008
You read that correctly. Wauwatosa, WI teachers are upset that they got an across the board 3.8% increase, so they’re doing less around the schools. Did you get a raise this year? How much was it? I’d put money on it that it was something less than 3.8%, but the teachers are still crying.
Continue reading...- A new pyramid scheme: United First Financial
- Mary Kay Cosmetics: Destroying half a million women a year
- Ufirst Money Merge Account: Resistance is futile
- The Sarah Palin pregnancy cover-up that wasn't (updated)
- What does Dave Ramsey think about United First Financial
- Vendor talks, Usana squawks
- United First Financial agent compensation plan
- Why can't I pee on my neighbor's lawn?
- $3,500 wasted with United First Financial, per Dave Ramsey
- Searching for Shop to Earn scam
- Dash RipRock III: Al Gore has really stepped in it this time. He could have...
- BOB: Tracy Coenen, Your an Idiot
- Ms. A: I was offered a job with Primerica, while I was working at my current....
- Tracy Coenen: Oh.. And if you really want to pay $3,800 toward your mortgage...
- Tracy Coenen: Maurice - You’ve fallen for their crap. $5,000 on your...
- maurice: Tracey, Again, I’m not in favor of purchasing software or...
- Tracy Coenen: Well Paul, you apparently agree with me as well. This has been...
- Paul Haley: Has anyone here actually read anything I’ve written any...
- Tracy Coenen: So what Paul is saying is that there is some link between human...
- Lee D: Climate Change is Identity Politics at it’s highest level. And...
- SEC employees more worried about future careers than actual enforcement?
- “Climate change”: Just another fraud on consumers
- Latest numbers: MPS still sucks
- Property tax sticker shock
- More TARP secrecy
- Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme investor losses: Recovery?
- Barry Minkow and Fraud Discovery Institute release proof of James Peterson’s (Microsemi Corp) lies
- James Peterson expands the lie; Microsemi board doesn’t care
- Planned Parenthood violating Indiana’s sexual abuse laws
- More public company executives with falsified credentials
About the Author
Tracy Coenen is a forensic accountant and fraud examiner who investigates white collar crimes, including cases of financial statement fraud, embezzlement, tax fraud, and insurance fraud. She is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud and more than 100 articles on fraud featured in industry publications.
02 Oct 2008
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