The Wandering Minstrel

When we were in Wickenburg, AZ, a couple of weeks ago, we passed this billboard on US Hwy. 60 just at the edge of town. The local Ford dealer, Jones Auto Centers, praised Ford Motors for not taking the government bailout, unlike GM and Chrysler. The bottom line is that Ford seems to be a healthy, free-enterprise company.

Clickable image courtesy The Better Half.

From Fox Business News:

Ford Posts Better-than-Expected Quarterly Profit

Ford Motor Co (F: 12.40 ,+0.30 ,+2.44%) posted stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings and said it was on track to be profitable in 2010 with second half profits lower than the first half.

Ford, whose shares were up 2.6% in premarket trading, lowered the top end of its range for U.S. auto industry sales for 2010, while saying it expects to move from a net automotive debt position to a net cash position by the end of 2011.

Its second-quarter net profit rose to $2.6 billion from $2.26 billion in the year earlier quarter when the automaker had gains from debt reduction efforts. Earnings per share fell to 61 cents from 69 cents due to a higher outstanding share count.

Ford posted earnings of 68 cents per share from operations excluding one-time items. Analysts on average expected Ford to post a profit of 40 cents per share on that basis, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Its shares were up 31 cents, or 2.6%, to $12.40 in premarket trading.

I spent most of today trying to iron out a minor speed bump on the road to building a new home. I won’t bore you with the details other than to say I have been chasing in circles on both the wireless and Internet.

Most financial institutions have a voice menu tree a mile long. Not only that, when you get through to the crappy elevator music, a voice that tells me all of our associates are busy with other customers, so please stay on the line. I was aggravated before the call, more after the phone tree and even more than that after the five or ten minute wait to actually get a human on the line. Hard to remain civil when you talk to the person, but I need them to do something for me. Seems ass backwards to me, but I guess that’s life in the electronic age.

Frank Miniter, author of The Ultimate Man’s Survival Guide and The Politically Incorrect Guide to Hunting, penned an article for the environmentally focused National Review blog, Planet Gore. In it, Miniter points to one gleaming industry among many tarnished by the Obamination.

Guns: Two Kinds of Green — By: Frank Miniter

Yesterday the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the firearms industry’s trade group, went to Capitol Hill and released a study detailing the positive impact the firearms and ammunition industry has on the U.S. economy — and its environment.

NSSF President Steve Sanetti said, “During difficult economic times and high unemployment rates nationally, our industry actually grew and created 16,800 new, well-paying jobs. Our industry is proud to be one of the bright spots in this economy.”

According to the NSSF’s numbers, in 2008 the gun industry employed 166,200 people; in 2009, it was up to 183,424 employees. The gun industry’s economic impact in 2008 was $19,199,634,700, whereas in 2009 it was $27,846,304,300. This resulted in the gun industry collectively paying $2,035,154,440 in federal taxes in 2009. Because of excise taxes that go to conservation, in 2009 the gun industry raised $450,177,780 for fish and wildlife-associated conservation, including endangered-species protection. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will redistribute this revenue to the states for conservation and education programs, as it does every year.

So every time you hear a gun go bang, think of it as a cash register ringing for conservation. (By the way, the green movement once again won’t add a nickel to these conservation programs.)

In 2009, I had a ‘hybrid’ tax situation. I retired in October so I fell into a category where a ‘life event,’ i.e. retirement, introduced some uncertainty into my ‘normal’ tax situation.

This week, I filed my tax return on-line, as usual. It turned out that I owed the feds a small balance, but the insolvent State of Kalifornistan owes me a little. It has been my custom to try and wind up owing both the state and fed a small amount, just enough so I don’t get a penalty. No sense letting either of the two keep my money interest-free.

I have a plan to deal with the state owing me money. God only knows how long it will take for them to credit my bank account with my refund, or even IF they will do so. Therefore, I can and will suspend state withholding from my pension. A few keystrokes and it’s done.

Update: 04/14/2010 - Amazing! The California Franchise Tax Board deposited our state tax refund to the bank account today. I guess I won’t be suspending the withholding after all.

The Turbo-Tax tool for 2010 isn’t on line yet, so I searched for another way to estimate my 2010 tax liability. A website called CalcXML has a quick federal-only tax calculator that allows you to plug in your situation and numbers to get the estimate almost instantly. You don’t need to register or enter any personal information. I used it to see if my target withholding will be in the ballpark of where it needs to be at year’s end. My state tax bill usually comes in at 25 percent of the federal amount, so I use that as a guide. @#%&! high taxes here.

Just a note about filing in April. I do the numbers in February or March, so I already know the ‘damage.’ I file the week before the deadline so if there is a glitch, I have time to fix it. This time, Turbo Tax and (believe it or not) the IRS found another 250 dollar tax credit during the filing process!

Update: I found the code to put the calculator here . . .

Where the politicians voting for the unconstitutional healthcare p.o.s. belong . . .

Image courtesy of The Better Half, taken this morning within the grounds of the high desert hotel where we’re staying.

Now that the Obamination has taken over General Motors, the GM management is embracing the sort of horseshit near and dear to the left. As a consequence, their sales have fallen off dramatically in spite of the Obamination’s attacks on Toyota. GM’s latest entry into the auto sales fray is a two-person electric piece of shit - not unlike the Segway®

“We were the S.U.V. company, and we accept that,” said Larry Burns, vice president for research and development and strategic planning at G.M. at the time. “We want to become the U.S.V. company — known for ultra-small vehicles.”

U.S.V., also known as “Un-Safe Vehicles.” Imagine a collision between the POS above and the SUV below. Which one would you like to be in?

Reportedly, the SUV market is playing a big part of Ford’s success. Their SUV and truck sales have topped new vehicle sales across the board, with Ford’s F-150 trucks leading the way.

Automotive Sales:

On Tuesday, the Ford Motor Company announced that its sales rose by 43 percent in February, enabling the automaker to outsell General Motors and become the best-selling carmaker in America for the month, but not by a lot.

Ford sold 334 vehicles more than G.M. Ford’s Mercury brand sells roughly that many vehicles every day. In 2009, General Motors outsold ford every month by an average of approximately 33,000 vehicles.

G.M.’s sales also increased, 12 percent from the same month in 2009, and 32 percent for the four auto brands G.M. is holding on to: Cadillac, Chevy, Buick, and GMC. Nevertheless, it dropped behind Ford, which announced a 54-percent increase in the sales of passenger vehicles.

Thus far in 2010, Ford’s sales are up by 34 percent, compared to only 13 percent for General Motors.

Via Planet Gore

Well, the tax bite isn’t as bad as I was led to believe when I groped my way through an initial cut at it last month. It turns out that we had enough withholding and deductions to come close to breaking even.

I try and plan things to break even and, up to the prior tax year, it generally worked out that I would owe the Feds and State a small amount. That’s the way I like it, not having to depend on a refund, especially from the Peoples Republik of Kalifornistan, who have trouble paying in actual money. They issue a ‘voucher’ in lieu of a check or credit - Monopoly money any way you look at it.

Things are different this time around since my status transitioned from employed to retired. I had no clear idea how things would work out. It turns out that I owe the usual small amount to the Fed but, unfortunately, the State is going to owe me some chump change.

If I do get a voucher, I believe that my credit union is buying them from members only at face value. They can better afford to deal with any delays that Brokefornia might have in making good on their IOUs.

Well, all the forms have finally arrived and I can now start in on the 2009 income Tax Return. This time, the preparation will be as complex as it can be for us since the 2009 tax year was a hybrid of employment and retirement. I counted a half-dozen 1098 and 1099 forms in addition to the last W-2 form I expect to receive, hopefully, forever. The 2010 tax year should be a little less complicated.

I mentioned in a December post that I got a sneak preview of the 2009 liability which dulled my Christmas spirit somewhat. So, like Don Corleone, I insist on hearing bad news as soon as possible. I’m doing the Turbo Tax Interview stuff as I write this, so I should have a rough cut in a day or so. Then, if the news is really bad, I might file the Daschle/Geithner Alternative Tax form (not included with my copy of Turbo Tax as was the case with Tim Geithner’s copy).

More developments as they occur . . .